Action Alert: Support 307-Unit Oakland Housing Project

Oakland stands to lose out on more than 300 units of new housing if opponents get their way. The Rubicon Partners project at 1750 Broadway, which the Bay Area Council has endorsed, has already been approved by the city Planning Commission. But a group that has opposed numerous new housing developments in the East Bay is asking the City Council to overturn the decision. The project provides just the kind of new infill housing Oakland and the broader region need to help arrest an historic housing crisis.

Situated above the 19th Street BART station, the project will add 307 new units to a transit-rich location. Oakland’s centers of civic and business leadership are all within walking and biking distance, encouraging sustainable forms of transportation that also integrate residents into the surrounding neighborhood. The project would contribute more than $12.75 million in one-time fees to city coffers, $6.75 million of which would go to Oakland’s affordable housing fund – the largest single project contribution for affordable housing to date in Oakland. And, Rubicon Partners has voluntarily committed to a 10% local hire minimum with a 20% local hire goal and an estimated minimum of 70% of the construction job-hours will be union labor.

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 18 is scheduled to decide whether to allow the project to move forward. We encourage to join us Tuesday, February 18 at 6 p.m. at Oakland City Hall to voice support for this worthy project. You can also send an email to the City Clerk expressing your support.